Categories: Beef

Ingredients

• 4 pound head cabbage
• 1 cup onion minced
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 each 8 oounce cans tomato sauce
• 2/3 pound ground beef or pork or combination
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley, reserve stems
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup onion coarsely chopped
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 can condensed chicken broth

Directions

1. Remove imperfect outside leaves from cabbage. wash cabbage. Cut off stem. Scoop out the core and part of the inside with large melon ball cutter, keeping a 2 inch opening and leaving a 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick shell. (This is pretty hard to do, takes muscles.)

2. Discard core, chop scooped out cabbage, reserve.

3. Place shell in large stockpot. Cover and fill with cold, salted water. Bring to boiling, dipping up some of the boiling liquid and pouring into the center to make sure it gets cooked in the inside too. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water, drain.

4. Cook minced onion until soft in 2 tablespoons margarine in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic. Cook 1 minute.

5. Add chopped cabbage and 2/3 cup tomato sauce. Cook 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the skillet from heat.

6. Combine cabbage-tomato sauce mixture, meat, rice, chopped parsley, thyme, salt and pepper in large bowl. Mix well.

7. Stuff cabbage with meat mixture. Save any meat mixture that will not fit into cabbage. Cover the opening with a small piece of aluminum foil.

8. Arrange 2 or 3 pieces of clean, white string, chris-cross fashion on board. Place cabbage, top side down, on strings, make sure it is centered on them. Tie the strings securely around the head of cabbage.

9. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons margarine in stockpot just large enough to hold the cabbage. Add chopped onion, carrots, bay leaf and parsley stems. Cook 5 minutes stirring frequently.

10. Place cabbage, stem end down over vegetables. Add remaining tomato sauce and undiluted chicken broth. Also add any of the left-over meat mixture that did not fit into the cabbage.

11. Cover. Bring to boiling. Simmer 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.

12. Lift cabbage with 2 tine fork onto warm serving plate. Remove strings and foil.

13. Correct seasoning of sauce to taste. Remove bay leaf and parsley stems. Spoon some sauce over and around cabbage. Serve the remainder of the sauce separately to be spooned over individual servings of cabbage.

14. Cut into wedges for serving.

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